Gonzalo Higuain has put Juventus on brink of the Champions League final... and he could have a chance to remind Real Madrid what they've missed
- UEFA Champions League news: All the latest from Europe's elite
- Gonzalo Higuain scored twice as Juventus beat Monaco in the Champions League semi-final, first leg on Wednesday
- It took the Argentine's goal tally to 31 in his debut season for the Italian giants
- There is a real chance that Higuain will face former club Real Madrid in the final
- Higuain spent seven years at the Bernabeu and drifted in and out of favour
- But he still scored 121 goals in 264 matches for Real before joining Napoli
Every dog has its day. It's a phrase that's perfect for Gonzalo Higuain – the subject of a famous dog versus cat quote from Jose Mourinho back in 2011.
'If you can't go hunting with your dog then you have to take your cat,' said Mourinho in 2011. It was a pop at Karim Benzema who Mourinho never much cared for and who he had to play instead of his preferred option, Higuain, when the Argentine forward picked up an injury.
Real Madrid sold Higuain in 2013 because president Florentino Perez preferred Benzema and needed the money Napoli were willing to pay to fund more big signings.
Gonzalo Higuain roars in celebration after scoring for Juventus against Monaco on Wednesday
The Argentine scored twice as Juventus placed one foot in the Champions League final
Higuain gets a hug from team-mate Leonardo Bonucci as he celebrates with the Juve fans
Now that a Real Madrid v Juventus Champions League final in Cardiff looks a distinct possibility Higuain will have his chance to remind Real Madrid just what they allowed to leave four years ago.
He is still only 29. If it seems like he should be older it's because he was only 20 when Real Madrid signed him from River Plate.
Then-River coach, Daniel Passerella, had pitched him into his first River-Boca Clasico when he was barely 19 and with a right-footed back-heel in the first half and left-foot finish round the keeper in the second he helped his team win 2-1.
He arrived at Real Madrid half way through the 2006-07 season, having played only 31 senior matches. He scored just twice in that first half-season and was immediately criticised.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was an invaluable ally. When Higuain got his first home goal in an amazing late comeback against Espanyol he held the youngster's shirt aloft to supporters behind the goal as if to say – look what this kid has just done.
A fresh-faced Higuain poses after completing his move to Real Madrid back in 2007
Higuain scored 121 goals in 264 matches for Real Madrid during his seven years with the club
Higuain celebrates after scoring against Real Betis at the Bernabeu in October 2011
He scored 22 goals in 34 games in his third season but by season four Perez was back as president and the club spent €36million on Benzema - the Frenchman effectively signed to take his place.
Higuain resisted and when Mourinho arrived the following year he made little secret of preferring the Argentine.
Aside from always feeling that president Perez saw him as his predecessor's signing and never fancied him. There was also always a sense that Higuain never quite fitted the Madrid way.
At the end of Mourinho's first season when Madrid only managed to win the Copa del Rey, Higuain referred to celebrations with city councillors as: 'hacer el paripe' a disrespectful way of saying 'putting on a needless show'.
Mourinho would no doubt have agreed but president Perez and his friends inside Madrid's town hall would not.
Higuain reached 100 goals for Real in just 179 games - only Raul achieved the feat quicker
But he was sold to Napoli in 2013 and continued to bang in the goals at a ferocious rate
In all, Higuain scored 91 times in 146 appearances for the Italian club in three seasons there
When Higuain left having clocked up 100 goals for Madrid in just 179 games – only club legend Raul had done it quicker – he was just approaching his prime.
It was all the more reason to sign him but despite showing plenty of interest Arsene Wenger ultimately lost out to Napoli.
Higuain – a hard-nosed winner as well as an exceptional player - would have massively improved Wenger's striking options and the character of his squad.
The Argentinian is not the typical rags-to-riches story. He did grow up playing barefoot in Buenos Aires but it was in the emptied-out swimming pool in his back garden not the mean streets of the capital.
The son of a professional footballer he had it easier than most but a comfortable life in the affluent neighbourhood of Palermo did not mean he grew-up soft.
His father Jorge was a rugged defender who played for both River Plate and Boca Juniors and taught his son to do all the things defenders hate having done to them.
Higuain pounces to score his second of the night against Monaco on Wednesday
Higuain has scored 31 goals in his first season with Juventus after moving last summer
With their 2-0 win in Monte Carlo, Juventus are strong favourites to make the final in Cardiff
That helped make him the striker he was at Real and then at Napoli where he scored 91 goals in 147 games and won the move to Juventus.
Criticism over his weight and his ability to decide important games has never been too far away.
But he looked light on his feet in the Stade Louis II on Wednesday and it was also him proving he could deliver when it mattered most.
Now it looks as though he will have the chance to put one over on the president who sold him.
'It's a decision I have taken calmly over time; I have been here seven years, they try to sell me every pre-season and I need to go somewhere where I am truly wanted,' he said after his last game for Real Madrid.
They have not exactly lived to regret the decision such has been Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-a-game ratio but there is still an argument that he deserved to win out over Benzema for the right to play alongside the Portuguese.
June 3 in Wales could be his chance to prove that point – and to remind Premier League suitors that he is not yet 30 and maybe has an English chapter in his career still to write.
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